Video Transcript: SEN Seminar
Philippa Stobbs, DCSF:
We've had quite a stormy series of debates on SEN in the past few years particularly on the issue of inclusion. The Lamb Inquiry was set up in the wake of two Select Committee Reports which identified a serious lack of confidence in the system on the part of parents and we need to look at that in more detail so the Lamb Inquiry is part of that response.
Fiona Johnson, Ipsos MORI
Essentially the reason for the research being commissioned was – confusion is perhaps too strong a word – but a lack of clarity about why people were making important decisions about teachers’ pay and conditions. In their 16th school report, the School Teachers’ Review Body noted that the allocation of SEN allowances predated many changes in the teachers’ pay award and specifically the introduction of TLRs but also the advent, development and roll-out of the inclusion agenda.
The Rewards and Incentives Group had anecdotal evidence suggesting the new staffing structures and pay schemes that came out as a result of the introduction of TLR’s that some SENCOs had ended up with less money even though they were performing the same role. I am not sure that’s exclusively the situation with SENCOs but it was happening to SENCOs.
Professor Janet Tod
Sonja said to me “I think sometimes inclusion and SEN is a bit confusing for members". She was right. Of course it is not an easy construct to define. Its got lots of interpretations. It is rooted in a sociological model premised on diversity.
The language of inclusion is often about removing barriers and sometimes obviously you can remove as many barriers as possible but it may not necessarily mean that the people concerned will benefit as one has in mind. So given that problem, if inclusion is difficult to define, how do you know when you've done it? We have students come to us and say “We did SEN last week and inclusion the Wednesday before.” Some schools say “We’ve done inclusion,” or “We’ve succeeded in inclusion,” They are not quite sure what it is. How do you evaluate it?
Sitting alongside is SEN – Special Educational Needs. That’s another construct you’ve got and some people say it doesn’t fit at all comfortably with inclusion and the term has been abandoned in some places.
